I'm starting to realize that there's a certain comfort to be found in unmitigated havoc. As things to do, activities, and stresses pile up, they all start to blur together into a big cream-colored blob of obligation that seems somehow infinitely less imposing than the sum of its parts. Billions of tiny particles translate into a blurry mass when looked at from far away-- that kind of thing. It's, like, totally cosmic, man.

And like most things that can be described as "totally cosmic," this phenomenon is easily relatable to music-- in this case, the skittering electronic noodling of Great Britain's Ben Jacobs (aka Max Tundra). If you've heard last year's manic and brilliant Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be, then you're already familiar with the unique blend of insanely arranged electronic and acoustic elements that sets Jacobs apart from the crowd. And if you're familiar with his sound, then you already know that Jacobs has an amazing talent for turning chaos into a startlingly coherent piece of music.

QY20 Songs is a concept piece of sorts, centered around a single piece of equipment: the Yamaha QY20 sequencer. The QY20 is a powerful little machine-- it comes equipped with a tone generator, fully polyphonic sequencer, and a bunch of other cool features to make your local synth geek drool all over his circuit schematics. But, like any piece of equipment, it's about as useful as a gray plastic paperweight if you don't know what to do with it.

Thankfully, Ben Jacobs is hardly an amateur. And while QY20 Songs may be limited by the fact that it begins and ends with one piece of electronic gadgetry, it still maintains the stylistic distinctiveness and songwriting prowess that has typified Jacobs' work so far.

"Doggy Biscuits," the EP's opener and standout, begins with one of the most hectic passages of music in Jacobs' catalog: a whirring array of drum machines and synthesizers that initially seem to make very little sense. But as the song progresses, a clear and highly successful formula begins to develop. There is indeed order to the madness-- hidden deep within the complex pattern of frenetic beeping is a distinct tonality that may not be clearly audible at first, but becomes quite apparent when brought out by complementary tones. As "Doggy Biscuits" progresses, these tones appear in the bass, as the original hectic pattern begins to become more and more tonal. The song then shifts into a passage that could best be described as the middle section of Steve Reich's "Drumming" hopped up on meth. Without a doubt one of the most well-composed electronic songs I've heard in ages.

"Rail Thali" and "Chimes Corner," the two additional tracks on QY20 Songs, don't quite match the sheer brilliance of "Doggy Biscuits," but still provide ample evidence of Jacobs' ability as a composer. The former is the most rhythmically focused track on the EP, piling drum machine beats over layers of gurgling synthesizers. The latter is the most straightforward track, a pure exploration of the interactions between a series of melodies.

While the composition on QY20 Songs is downright amazing, the EP's concept prevents it from utilizing the same variety of sound sources as Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be. But I'll venture to say that "Doggy Biscuits" is the greatest purely electronic track I've heard in a long time. Combine that level of composition with Jacobs' willingness to incorporate atypical sound sources, and you could have something that's... well, like, totally cosmic, man.

-Matt LeMay